Birthday Party!

So on Saturday we were finally able to have David's birthday party because we were finally not sick anymore. We had some friends come over, as well as his best friend. And this year I decided I was going to really try to decorate his cake. I went with an ocean theme and even though it didn't look just how I wanted (first time using frosting tips, and using runny frosting), I think it still turned out nicely!

I wanted to take a moment and say that I love David SO much! He is such a joy to me every single day. I just feel so blessed to be his Mom. I know I am completely biased but I think he is the cutest little guy EVER! He's got the cutest smile and the cutest little voice. He's talking so much more now too and it's so fun to hear him jabber away!

-Some of his favorite things to do are jump(he is VERY good at jumping!), swing/play with Tanner on the playground, be with his cousins(his happiness level shoots through the roof whenever he's around them, it's so fun), watch Dee Dagon (Pete's Dragon), eat crackers, sing songs(more like listen to mommy sing songs), read books, and color.

-His favorite things are trucks and trains(no surprise there!), his teddy bear and "ROAR"(stuffed lion), and one of my belts (no idea!).

Happy Birthday David!

Hilary helping me put the last sprinkles on the cake (chocolate ones for the ocean floor).

The finished product! I did have an accident with the blue frosting over the words in case you wonder why that's there. =)

David anticipating.............! I took the candles off and just held them in front of him to blow out because he spits too!

Scott blew up all the baloons and hid them in a bag before everyone came. Then after we ate the cake he had the kids stand in the middle of the room and he dumped them over their heads! They thought that was pretty cool! They spent the rest of the time playing with them.

Sydney is drinking from a sippy cup now! She refused to take any kind of bottle so this is great! She can even hold it herself pretty well!

Most of our guests...

Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures!

I have updated the family and baby portrait sections, and have updated/redone the wedding section. Go check the new pictures out on my portfolio!

Two Years & Four Years

Yesterday was David's birthday! I can't believe I have a two year old! Unfortunately we were all sick so we didn't have his party yet. We're going to do it with cake and friends sometime this weekend. But we did sing to him and give him some ice cream with candles(he blew out one!). He really loved it as you can see in the second picture.
Look how old he looks!
Then after he shoveled some in he paused as he realized how cold it was...
After that he opened his present from us. We got him a little table and chair for his art projects and things. Having fun afterwards with his new crayons!Today he also got some very cool art supplies from his Grandma Farmer and is very excited about them(as well as myself). Thanks Mom!

And today is actually our 4 year anniversary! I can't believe it's been 4 years and that we have two kids. But I have to say that it's wonderful. I couldn't have a better husband. He is so good to me and such a great Dad. I am so lucky! Thank you Scott for a wonderful 4 years, and I'm excited for many, many more! I love you!

Napoleon Dynamite and Sydney's Friend

David loves his snow boots and likes to wear them all the time. Scott was reminded of Napoleon Dynamite and thought it would be a funny picture. I think so!
Saturday night we had some friends over and Sydney had fun playing with their little boy who is just 6 days older than her. She is very aware of everything around her and really loves other babies. She doesn't really get to play with them, though, so that was a treat for her. She kept trying to touch his face.

Rice Chex Anyone?

A couple days ago I came into the living room to find this...He can reach things on the counter now so we have to be extra careful about what we leave up there! No knives!

I snuck into David's room yesterday, without him waking up! That's a miracle! This is how I found him...

I've been wondering where he actually fell asleep for naps since he's free to roam around the room now. At least he made it to the bed!

Sydney and I playing during David's nap. She was talking, that's why she looks like that.

Cereal for Sydney!

Sydney tried rice cereal for the first time last night. She made the funniest face when she first tried it! She didn't seem too sure about it with the expressions she was making, but every time she saw the spoon she started kicking one of her legs and grabbing for it. So cute. Here are a few pictures.

Afterwards she just wanted to chew on the spoon.

Tidbits from Alicia

In the last several days I have seen in the news and videos online protests going on outside Latter Day Saints sacred temples(another planned this Wednesday in NYC). I watched Keith Olberman the other night go on a rant saying “this is what your religion tells you to do?” and basically made us out to be cold heartless people(he didn’t specifically name Mormons, just talking about all religions in general). I have decided that even though I’m not very good at putting things into words, I have to publicly stand for what I know to be right. Please remember this is MY blog and I have every right to express myself.

I realize that gay people feel discriminated against, and like we don’t care about their feelings, or the love they have for each other. I at least, feel very sad for them as well. I hate it when people feel sad or alone(Please believe me that I am not just saying that). Please however, look at it from our (Latter Day Saints) point of view. We know there is a God. We know that there is a Prophet on the earth today that God speaks through. Our Prophet now (as well as others throughout history) has spoken for God in telling us that acting on homosexual feelings is a sin. If we are a faithful member of the church we are going to follow our Prophet and our God. That does not mean we hate gay people. That does not mean we are happy about the way they are feeling. But as faithful members we have to stand up for these things, even if it makes us unpopular with those not of our faith. I want to include here a quote from our last General Conference (a semi-annual event where we hear talks from our Prophet and leaders.

“Could it be that we have been slowly desensitized into thinking that high moral standards are old fashioned and not relevant or important in today’s society? ...Could it be that first we tolerate, then accept, and eventually embrace the vice that surrounds us?...Are we being poisoned by degrees?”
And please know she was not talking about anything exclusively. Just addressing the falling standards going on throughout the world today.
There is much more to that but that is my favorite part. If you want to read more go to www.lds.org

Below I have included an article by a catholic bishop who puts everything so well, and also part of an official statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But before we get to that I wanted to say-

I know things seem crazy in the world today. But my husband and I really are trying our best to do our part in making the world a better place. Something I’m sure any faithful Latter Day Saint is also doing. Not that others of other faiths are not, but really. Latter Day Saints(Mormons) are not cold heartless people who want less love in the world. We are just the opposite. We are taught to LOVE everyone no matter who they are, no matter their beliefs, no matter their physical appearance, no matter ANYTHING. But we must also stand up for what we know to be right.

Goodness, I could go on and on. I am sad that Mormons are being targeted (read more on that below). But no matter how I am treated or how people hate me, I WILL NOT move. I will stand for what I KNOW is right.

I’ve italicized parts that stick out to me below…

Bishop William Weigand, Diocese of Sacramento- “Catholics stand in solidarity with our Mormon brothers and sisters in support of traditional marriage — the union of one man and one woman — that has been the major building block of Western Civilization for millennia.
“The ProtectMarriage coalition, which led the successful campaign to pass Proposition 8, was an historic alliance of people from every faith and ethnicity. LDS were included — but so were Catholics and Jews, Evangelicals and Orthodox, African-Americans and Latinos, Asians and Anglos.
“Bigoted attacks on Mormons for the part they played in our coalition are shameful and ignore the reality that Mormon voters were only a small part of the groundswell that supported Proposition 8.
“As the former bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, I can attest to the fact that followers of the Mormon faith are a good and generous people with a long history of commitment to family and giving to community causes.
“I personally decry the bigotry recently exhibited towards the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — coming from the opponents of Proposition 8, who ironically, have called those of us supporting traditional marriage intolerant.
“I call upon the supporters of same-sex marriage to live by their own words — and to refrain from discrimination against religion and to exercise tolerance for those who differ from them. I call upon them to accept the will of the people of California in the passage of Proposition 8.”

LDS Church- “It is important to understand that this issue for the Church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage — a union between a man and a woman.
Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the Church were and are simply wrong. The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches. Some, however, have mistakenly asserted that churches should not ever be involved in politics when moral issues are involved. In fact, churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society. While the Church does not endorse candidates or platforms, it does reserve the right to speak out on important issues.”

David's New Bed

Saturday night was David's first night in a big boy bed and he did great! He stayed in bed when we left him and slept until 7:30. Yesterday he slept until 8:30! It's great! Naps are a little different just because it's not totally dark. He plays for about an hour and then falls asleep who knows where, and that's fine. We spent Saturday rearanging everything so that anything he could get to was ok.
Now Sydney can go in the crib. I just have to actually do it. I'm not really looking forward to having her wake up in the middle of the night in David's room. Anyone who's been in this situation have any pointers? To get David to sleep through the night we just had to let him cry and that's not really something we can do with Sydney.

Annalise and Steve's Wedding Day

So finally here are some pictures from Annalise's wedding! She also has posted them on her blog. I put them in a slide show so it wouldn't take up so much room. Some quality was lost though this way.

It starts out with the wedding, then the luncheon, then the open house that night(lot's of family in these ones). I warn you there are about 60 pictures on this thing. =) You can speed it up or pause it in the bottom left corner. For those of you who make it through them all, I hope you enjoy them!

Thank you Annalise for the opportunity and for trusting your wedding pictures to me. I had a lot of fun!

5 Months Old and Silly David

Well I don't know where the time has gone. I don't know how Sydney got to be so big! But she is now 5 months old. She's somewhere over 13 lbs and growing out of all of her clothes! She has now rolled over from her stomach to her back and vice verse, but she doesn't like to do it that often. Her favorite things to do are eat her hands(I think she's cutting her first tooth), eating my hands, and watching any ones hands. She also just loves to be where she can see whats going on. Especially when we're at the park. Everyone always tells me how beautiful she is so I guess she really must be, though as her mother I already thought that. =) She is such a blessing in our lives. When she smiles it lifts me up. And she smiles a lot so that's a lot of lifting. =) I feel so blessed to have 2 very happy and cute kids. I love being a mom!
This is David enjoying the first snow of the season. He got to try out his new snow boots which I think he enjoyed. When I ask David to look at the camera and smile this is what I get. The second one is most often. He throws his head forward and does that same face every time, but only for a split second and he's off and running. I tell you this kid NEVER stays still!

I Voted!

Yep! It was my first time voting actually! Scott and I ran and registered 10 minutes before the polls closed and voted. We had a very busy night with other things, and got Scott's brother Russ to run over to watch the kids while we ran out trying to beat the clock. It was fun! I have to say it felt good to participate in such a significant thing.

Simon's Baptism

Yesterday was my nephew Simon's baptism. It was fun to go and support him in that choice, and also see family. Scotts parents came up from Seattle to be there. We had great times hanging out and eating good food!

Simon holding Sydney. He really likes to!
Afterwards I showed David the piano. Here I am helping him play Mary had a little lamb. It was fun to sit and play, even though it was just for a minute. I haven't been able to play a piano in a very long time! I think Christmas was the last time!

My sharp looking husband with his brother Russell.

David playing with one of his cousins.

Scott's Dad looking at the lesson we were going to teach today and giving him some ideas.

Sydney having fun with her grandma Sorenson! She even laughed for her. Scott's parents joined us for the last two hours of church and they were such a great help with Sydney. Thank you! I think that was the first time I was able to listen to Scott's part of the lesson!

We loved seeing Scott's parents, but as it did with my family last weekend, time went by too fast. A couple days just isn't enough!